Grant Hill helped the U.S. win Olympic gold in 1996. He would have been on the team again in 2000 if not for injury. And he was among the college kids who famously beat the first “Dream Team” in a scrimmage before the 1992 Olympics.
Now USA Basketball is bringing him back.
Hill will become the men’s national team managing director after the Tokyo Olympics, USA Basketball said Saturday. He’ll replace the retiring Jerry Colangelo, in a move where one Basketball Hall of Famer takes over for another in the critical role of assembling teams that will compete for gold.
“It’s just an incredible opportunity, also an incredible challenge,” Hill said Saturday. “I had the good fortune of participating in international play — the Pan American Games, of course the Olympic team — and I have been a fan of Team USA going back to the 1984 Olympic team when I first started to fall in love with basketball. The more I thought about it, the more intrigued, excited and the more willing I was to roll up my sleeves and move forward with this awesome responsibility.”
Hill’s résumé is elite. He played 19 NBA seasons, was an All-Star seven times — which likely would have been more if not for the ankle problems that derailed his career — and made five All-NBA teams. At Duke, he helped the Blue Devils win national championships in 1991 and 1992.
Hill went into the Hall of Fame in 2018 and has worked as an NBA and college basketball analyst for Turner Sports for nearly a decade. And he’s part of the broadcast team for the men’s Final Four this weekend in Indianapolis, the sixth straight year he’s been on that crew.
He will remain in broadcasting after assuming his USA Basketball job.
“Grant is a proven leader of consequence and character who will continue to help us achieve on our twin goals of winning international competitions and representing our country with honor,” said Martin Dempsey, USA Basketball board of directors chair and a retired general. “In making this announcement, I also want to emphasize how much everyone associated with USA Basketball appreciates Jerry Colangelo for everything he did for USA Basketball over the past 15 years.”
And Colangelo did plenty.
The managing director role was created for him in 2005, after the Americans lost three games in the 2004 Athens Olympics and returned with an extremely disappointing bronze medal. Colangelo has since overseen the process of selecting players and coaches, bringing in Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski — who led the U.S. to Olympic golds in 2008, 2012 and 2016 — and now San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich to serve as head coaches.
In major competitions with Colangelo as managing director, the U.S. men have gone 97-4. Colangelo’s departure was not unexpected; the 80-year-old made no secret of his plans to retire after the Tokyo Games, which were delayed one year to this summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I intend to spend an incredible amount of time with Jerry, shadow him some this summer, and I think that experience will certainly help as we move forward,” Hill said. “He’s just an invaluable resource and has done a remarkable job, so you can’t help but learn from someone like Jerry.”
No matter what happens in Tokyo, Hill will take over at a hectic time. The delay of these Olympics compresses everything; the next Basketball World Cup is only two years away, and the Paris Games are just three years out.
Hill knows the rest of the world is catching — or has caught — up to USA Basketball. He predicted that would happen in 1996, when he was part of Dream Team II that won the gold in Atlanta, and he isn’t alone in the belief that the game found a new gear internationally because of the success of the first Dream Team four years before that.
Hill was a 19-year-old college sophomore when he was brought in along with Bobby Hurley, Chris Webber and others to scrimmage the U.S. team that featured Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing and more. The college kids won 62-54 in that first scrimmage; debate has raged ever since about whether U.S. coach Chuck Daly threw the game to make a point that no team was unbeatable, but there is no debate about how that day in California helped the NBA stars come together.
“We had a good moment,” Hill said. “That experience — having a chance to practice with, learn from, spend time with arguably the greatest team ever assembled — it wasn’t a formal event with a medal ceremony and the like, but it certainly was a pivotal moment for me and my development and my growth as a player.”
Hill’s job that day was to beat USA Basketball’s best. His job going forward will be to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Brusdar Graterol’s placement on the 60-day injured list was either a procedural move or incorrect, depending on who you ask, but the Dodgers’ right-hander does plan on returning to the field in less than 60 days. His delayed debut this season is “related to COVID from the past,” per Jorge Castillo of the LA Times. It’s a peculiar situation surrounding the flame-throwing Venezuelan. He’s not hurt, simply behind. He didn’t begin throwing this spring until late in March, and he’s still working himself into game shape. Let’s make the rounds to see how other arms are progressing out west…
Kyle Freeland is working his way back from a shoulder injury suffered near the end of spring training, and there’s no timetable for his return. That said, he does appear to be making progress, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. Specifics remain scarce, but the presumption seems to be that Freeland’s injury won’t threaten his season. The Rockies are able to start the season with a four man rotation, but they’ll soon need to add another arm to the mix beyond German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Jon Gray, and Austin Gomber. Newly-signed Jhoulys Chacin could be a candidate for bulk innings. Keep an eye on Antonio Santos in the long-term. The 24-year-old righty made his debut last season after just eight starts in Double-A. He may not be the first name called this season, but he’s likely to find his way back to the Majors at some point in 2021.
The Giants released a number of injury updates, per MLB.com’s Maria I. Guardado (via Twitter). Jaylin Davis will be out for four to six weeks as he rehabs left knee tendinitis. John Brebbia and Tyler Beede are both throwing twice-weekly bullpens as they prepare to come back from Tommy John surgery. Dedniel Nunez underwent his own Tommy John surgery this past Tuesday, and he will begin his rehab process this week. Lastly, Alex Wood threw a sim game as he tries to return from a lower back strain. Wood was expected to play a big role in the Giants rotation picture this season, and they still hope that’s the case.
DETROIT — Do you have a question that you’d like to have answered in Hey, Hoynsie? Submit it here. You can also subscribe to Subtext here or text Hoynsie at 216-208-4346 for a two-week free trial.
Hey, Hoynsie: Where does Amed Rosario fit on the Indians roster? — Liam Jones, Youngstown.
Hey, Liam: Well, right now he’s doing a little of this and a little of that. He came to camp as a shortstop, got moved to center field and now he’s bouncing between the two positions. The feeling is he’ll eventually become a decent center fielder, but it’s going to take time. I think we’ll see him play shortstop against some tough lefties.
He had a pinch-hit single and scored in Thursday’s opener against the Tigers. The Indians need to get his bat in the lineup as much as possible.
Indians catcher Roberto Perez on opening day Thursday against the Tigers in Detroit.Getty Images
Hey, Hoynsie: What is the Tribe’s opening day record since you’ve been covering the team? — Tom, Mt Vernon.
Hey, Tom: I burned out a couple of calculators trying to figure this out. Since I started covering the Indians in 1983, they’re 16-23 in season openers. So it looks like I’ve been the problem all along.
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor.AP
Hey, Hoynsie: Looking at Francisco Lindor’s new contract, how much does the agent get, and when does he get paid? Each year or all up front? — Spence, Canton.
From Spence: The NFL and NBA limit agents commission on a player’s contract to 3%. There is no limit in MLB. Usually an agent’s commission is between 4% and 10%. On endorsement deals, the agent can get between 10% and 20%.
Lindor just signed a 10-year $341 million with the Mets. He wanted $341 to make him the highest paid shortstop in history. Fernando Tatis recently signed a 14-year $340 million contract with the Padres. Not sure have David Meter, Lindor’s agent, gets paid, but I imagine he’s doing OK.
Goodyear Ballpark, spring training home of the Indians and Reds, in Goodyear, Ariz.AP
Hey, Hoynsie: I’ve recently relocated from Cleveland to Arizona, and yes, I miss going to Progressive Field more than I can say. So, now that the team has gone back to Cleveland, I understand the Goodyear training complex has its own schedule. Who is doing what and it it open to the public.? — Greg Benedetto, Cottonwood, Arizona.
Hey, Greg: Fans weren’t allowed to watch practices when the big league club was working out at the complex in Goodyear this spring because of coronavirus protocols. I would imagine it would be the same for the minor leaguers. They will spend most of April there preparing, hopefully, for their Class AA and Class A seasons.
The Indians will keep at least one team at their complex when the Class AA and Class A teams break camp in May to start their seasons. Perhaps the protocols will be loosened enough by them so you can attend some of those games.
The Indians have another group of minor leaguers at their alternate camp in Columbus. They are scheduled to start playing games on Monday. The Class AAA team will emerge from that camp.
Third baseman Nolan Jones is the top ranked prospect in the Indians farm system.Getty Images
Hey, Hoynsie: Aside from some pitching, do the Indians have a poor minor league system? They once had promising position player talent that we anticipated would make a difference at the big leagues with players such as Francisco Lindor, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle and Jim Thome. Who are the players in the farm system who could help in Cleveland? — David Seed, Shaker Heights.
Hey, David: The Indians have pumped a lot of talent into the system with the trades of Trevor Bauer, Corey Kluber, Mike Clevinger and Mike Clevinger. They’ve also developed their own talent in players such as Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale, Triston McKenzie and James Karinchak. This spring was a coming out party for minor-league infielders Tyler Freeman, Owen Miller, Gabriel Arias and Ernie Clement. Freeman and Miller were so impressive that they stayed with the big league team until they broke camp on Tuesday.
There’s a big gap between the Lindor and the other position players you mentioned — Ramirez, Belle and Thome. But the Indians have talent coming, position players and pitchers. Their farm system is well thought of throughout the big leagues.
A variety of Cleveland Indians face masks available online today. (Fanatics.com)
The Talkin’ Tribe Opening Day event will take place virtually on April 5, 2021 from noon – 1:30 p.m. — featuring Indians sports writers and columnists from cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Tickets can be reserved here. Plus, join our VIP experience and get the opportunity to mingle with former Cleveland Indians players and more. There are only 150 tickets available for this exclusive experience and tickets can only be won through our sweepstakes.
New Indians face masks for sale:Here’s where you can buy Cleveland Indians-themed face coverings for coronavirus protection, including a single mask ($14.99) and a 3-pack ($24.99). All MLB proceeds donated to charity.
More Indians coverage
Could 2021 bullpen be one of the best in baseball?
Jake Bauers awake and ready to help win games
Indians roster: Who stays and who goes by season’s end? Podcast
MLB pulls 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta over Georgia voting law
Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney filling in for John Adams at opener
Progressive Field changes: You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers
Indians home opener weather – year by year – from snow to 83 degrees
Offense in deep freeze in 3-2 loss to Tigers in season opener
Perez battles elements, homers late in season-opening loss
Promising pitching, frustrating hitting – Opening Day Tribe Scribbles
What did opening day do for 2021 expectations?
See every opening day lineup in Cleveland Indians history
Indians announce Columbus alternate site roster for season’s start
Could this be José Ramírez’s last opening day with Cleveland?
Augusta National Golf Club was a different experience in November, and the 2021 Masters will feature firm fairways and a select number of patrons when the event tees off Thursday, April 8. The softer landing spots at the 2020 event gave the long hitters the advantage, and red-hot Dustin Johnson seized his chance, cruising to a five-stroke victory at a record 20-under. He will try to join Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo as the only players to win the Masters Tournament in consecutive years.
William Hill Sportsbook lists the defending champion as the 8-1 favorite in its latest 2021 Masters odds. Others from the 2021 Masters field high up on the PGA odds board include reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (9-1), Justin Thomas (11-1), Jon Rahm (11-1), Rory McIlroy (14-1) and Jordan Spieth (14-1). Before you lock in any 2021 Masters picks or PGA Tour predictions, you have to see who Sal Johnson is backing.
A media legend and consummate golf insider, Johnson has a strong feel for what it takes to win at Augusta National. He was all over Dustin Johnson before the 2020 Masters, and even he had Woods as a shocking pick the previous year.
Before November’s event, he tabbed Johnson as the top choice in his best bets. “When he gets on a roll like this, he is nearly impossible to beat,” the golf guru told SportsLine. “He is a man with a purpose, and that is to win another major.” Johnson simply ran away with the event, leading wire-to-wire and winning by five shots for his second major championship.
Even more stunning, Sal Johnson was on top of Woods before his emotional comeback victory in 2019. He featured Woods in his best bets despite the 15-time major winner coming off back surgery. Johnson noted Woods’ tee-to-green game looked almost as sharp as it did in his prime. “And this will be the reason for him winning.” The result? Woods shot 13-under to earn his fifth green jacket.
The golf expert knows these players and how they fit the courses. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month, he singled out DeChambeau as his top choice to win before he took his second victory of the year.
He also knows when surging players are poised for a breakthrough. He tabbed Sungjae Im as a top contender before his first Tour win at the Honda Classic last season and touted Tyrell Hatton to get his first tour victory the following week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Anyone who has followed Johnson’s advice has cashed in huge.
Johnson, the first producer of “Inside the PGA Tour” and a longtime ABC Sports technician who worked with Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman who was also the founder of the world’s top golf stats database, has released his highly confident 2021 Masters picks, and they will surprise you. You can only see them here.
Top 2021 Masters expert picks
Johnson is fading DeChambeau, even though the 27-year-old leads the tour in driving distance (320.8 yards) and scoring average (69.432) while being one of the top Las Vegas favorites. He also is the reigning U.S. Open champion, but DeChambeau’s best finish at Augusta is a tie for 21st (as an amateur). He is more than just power, as he ranks 28th in overall putting average (1.583) and putts per round (28.5), but his accuracy is a major issue on a course like this. He ranks 81st in greens in regulation (67.4%) and will need an otherworldly putting week to contend.
Jordan Spieth has been making quite a comeback, and Johnson has had his eye on him the whole way. The 2015 Masters champ has finished in the top 15, including three top-fives, in five of his past six starts. He is 43-under par during that span. His season numbers haven’t caught up since he missed the cut in four of seven events before his current run, but his driving has been steady and he typically plays well at Augusta. He is 45th in total strokes gained and 65th in strokes gained putting.
Scottie Scheffler comes off a runner-up finish at the WGC-Dell Match Play, and Johnson likes where his game is right now. The 24-year-old has finished in the top 25 in half of his 14 events this season and he shot in the 60s in six of his eight rounds before missing the cut with 74-71 at the Players Championship. He bounced back by advancing to the final at the Match Play, where he lost to Billy Horschel. He tied for 19th in November at Augusta and ranks in the top 25 in driving accuracy (66.99 percent), greens in regulation (70.33) and strokes gained around the green. You can only see who to pick here.
How to make 2021 Masters predictions
For the Masters 2021, Johnson is touting an epic long shot north of 40-1. This golfer has always been a shot-maker, and players like that are rewarded at the Masters. He could be a huge surprise this week, and anyone who backs this underdog could cash in big. He’s only sharing all of his 2021 Masters bets here.
Who wins the Masters 2021? Where do Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed finish? And which huge long shot is a must-back? Check out the odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Sal Johnson’s full leaderboard, picks and analysis for the 2021 Masters, all from the insider who has been locked in on his picks at Augusta National.
2021 Masters odds
Dustin Johnson 8-1 Bryson DeChambeau 9-1 Jon Rahm 11-1 Justin Thomas 11-1 Rory McIlroy 14-1 Jordan Spieth 14-1 Xander Schauffele 20-1 Brooks Koepka 20-1 Patrick Cantlay 22-1 Patrick Reed 25-1 Collin Morikawa 25-1 Tony Finau 28-1 Lee Westwood 28-1 Tyrrell Hatton 30-1 Viktor Hovland 30-1 Daniel Berger 33-1 Hideki Matsuyama 35-1 Scottie Scheffler 35-1 Webb Simpson 40-1 Paul Casey 40-1 Cameron Smith 40-1 Sung-Jae Im 40-1 Jason Day 45-1 Bubba Watson 45-1 Tommy Fleetwood 50-1 Matthew Fitzpatrick 50-1 Joaquin Niemann 50-1 Sergio Garcia 50-1 Adam Scott 60-1 Justin Rose 66-1 Harris English 66-1 Matthew Wolff 66-1 Will Zalatoris 66-1 Louis Oosthuizen 66-1 Francesco Molinari 80-1 Billy Horschel 80-1 Max Homa 80-1 Jason Kokrak 80-1 Shane Lowry 80-1 Abraham Ancer 80-1 Phil Mickelson 90-1 Victor Perez 90-1 Marc Leishman 100-1 Russell Henley 100-1 Rickie Fowler 100-1 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 100-1 Corey Conners 100-1 Ian Poulter 100-1 Si-Woo Kim 100-1 Matt Kuchar 100-1 Gary Woodland 100-1 Brian Harman 100-1
Major League Baseball is moving the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta in response to Georgia’s controversial new voting law, the league announced Friday.
“I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”
The All-Star Game is one of the league’s premier events and the city of Atlanta will be losing out on a considerable financial gain. Past cities have seen as much as $60 million in economic boosts, according to data from the Baseball Almanac.
Discussions of moving the game surfaced after Georgia recently passed strict new voting laws, which critics say are designed to disenfranchise voters of color. The new law requires a photo ID in order to vote via absentee ballot, which more than 1.3 million Georgia voters used during the coronavirus pandemic. It also limited the locations for dropbox locations and limits the time voters have to request an absentee ballot.
The league has not yet announced a new host city but said the decision is in the process of being finalized. The All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on July 13 and will still pay tribute to baseball legend Hank Aaron.
SAN DIEGO — Before Manny Machado picked San Diego, before Fernando Tatis Jr. earned his callup, before general manager A.J. Preller’s spending spree turned up a rotation full of aces, before the Padres were good and fun and wore brown — Eric Hosmer signed on the dotted line.
In retrospect, that moment serves as something of a turning point for this once-forlorn franchise. But on that late-February afternoon in 2018, could Hosmer have truly envisioned this?
“Definitely not to this extreme,” Hosmer said last week. “If you were to tell me Manny would’ve been here a year after me, then followed by [Blake] Snell and [Yu] Darvish — and I’d heard a lot about Fernando obviously, but I didn’t realize how good he actually was until I got here and got to see him on a day-to-day basis.
“I definitely had an idea about this team being good, having a lot of talent. But this amount of talent on one team is pretty special. You certainly didn’t expect this.”
Hosmer sure seems determined to make the most of it. Two games into the 2021 season, the Padres are 2-0, and he’s the one doing the heavy lifting. For the second consecutive game, Hosmer homered and had three hits as the Padres held off the D-backs, 4-2, at Petco Park on Friday night.
Hosmer launched a two-run home run to right field in the third, then tacked on an insurance run with a two-out RBI single in the seventh. He’s made four trips to the plate this season with runners in scoring position, and he has hits in all four.
“It starts with: Eric wants to be up there in those moments,” Padres manager Jayce Tingler said. “He does a good job of being aggressive on the pitches that he can get the barrel to.”
Hosmer’s 13 total bases through the team’s first two games of the season are the most in franchise history. He’s also the first Padres player to begin a season by recording three hits in each of the team’s first two games.
So while Machado and Tatis have started the season on the chilly side — they’ve combined to go 1-for-15, and Tatis has committed three errors — the Padres have made up for it with more than enough production from Hosmer, their original nine-figure signing.
After a nervy win on Opening Day — in which Tingler admitted to sticking with Darvish too long, then used all four of his primary bullpen weapons — San Diego played Friday’s game like it knew it had 160 left. The National League West won’t be won on opening weekend. So, Blake Snell got an early hook after 4 2/3 innings in his Padres debut, and Tingler reshuffled his bullpen to give some of his key arms an early rest.
Snell, of course, infamously received an early hook in his last start as well — pitching Game 6 of the World Series for the Rays against the Dodgers. He was cruising on Friday night, having punched out eight across 4 2/3 scoreless innings. But the circumstances — as Snell was quick to point out — were different. The Padres had him on a first-start pitch limit of 85, and he’d already exceeded that count by one.
“I’m not here to throw nine innings in the first game that I pitch,” Snell said. “It doesn’t matter to me. No one remembers your first couple months of a season. They remember how you finish and what you do in the postseason. … We’re going to build this the right way, and we’ll start to get some innings and some depth. Then we can have some fun.”
After Snell’s removal, the D-backs got two runs back in the seventh when Ketel Marte homered off right-hander Craig Stammen. But Hosmer answered with his two-out RBI knock in the bottom of the frame.
“He loves those opportunities and thrives on them,” Tingler said. “He’s been as successful as anybody in those situations.”
After his big Opening Day performance, Hosmer set the bar high for the Padres’ offense, saying he felt it should be the best in MLB in 2021. When he arrived in San Diego, it was arguably the worst. What a difference a few years make.
But Hosmer has never been one for “on-paper” accomplishments. The Padres have built an excellent roster, sure. In Hosmer’s eyes, that doesn’t mean anything.
“We have a special group here,” Hosmer said. “We have a lot of talent. Now, it’s time to put that talent to work.”
Two No. 1 seeds fell Friday night in the 2021 women’s Final Four. Now two Pac-12 teams are headed to Sunday’s national championship game.
Behind a smothering defense and 26 points from senior point guard Aari McDonald, third-seeded Arizona upset No. 1 seed UConn 69-59 as the Huskies lost in the national semifinals for the fourth consecutive NCAA tournament. Paige Bueckers had 18 points and wrapped up her freshman season with 108 points in the NCAA tournament.
Stanford, the overall No. 1 seed, awaits after beating No. 1 seed South Carolina 66-65 on Friday in San Antonio. It’s the first time two Pac-12 teams will face off in the final, and the first championship game featuring two schools west of the Mississippi River since 1986.
Just 0.6% of all brackets in the Women’s Tournament Challenge correctly picked Stanford and Arizona to meet Sunday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN App) at the Alamodome. Of those brackets, 59.2% tabbed Stanford to win it all.
The Cardinal went 2-0 against the Wildcats in the regular season. How will that impact the title game? Can Arizona pull another upset? ESPN.com’s panel of Andrea Adelson, Charlie Creme and Mechelle Voepel weigh in with their first impressions of the championship game matchup.
Arizona pulled the upset of the tournament. Will the Wildcats — whose defense held UConn to a season-low 22 points at halftime and more turnovers (nine) than made field goals (eight) in the first two quarters — have any gas left in the tank after an emotionally and physically exhausting semifinal?
Creme: The Wildcats will be fine heading into Sunday’s title game because they take their cues from coach Adia Barnes, who seems calm and confident all the time. Her demeanor never seemed to change on the sidelines against UConn. For 40 minutes she gave off an air of positivity. Barnes’ relaxed approach to every huddle kept her team in the moment. The Wildcats seemed to be enjoying what they were doing rather than thinking about what it meant. That all comes from Barnes.
Arizona did something Friday that most thought impossible — hold the Huskies to fewer than 60 points. There might not have been one moment in this game when it felt like the Huskies were going to win. Arizona controlled this game from the outset and did it with defense. A UConn team that led the country with a nearly 52% shooting percentage shot 35.7%.
It also helps to have the tournament’s best player to lean upon when a play needs to be made. Having a player rolling like McDonald takes the pressure off everyone else. Her two early 3-pointers sent a message to not only the Huskies, but also her teammates. A wave of confidence flowed through the entire team after that. McDonald’s play all night and her 26 total points helped keep that optimism high.
While I am confident Arizona will have plenty of energy for the championship game, history can always find a caveat. In 2017, Mississippi State executed a great defensive game plan against UConn in the Final Four, held the Huskies to 64 points in a stunning overtime upset — and couldn’t recover for the championship game. The Bulldogs looked gassed two nights later, and South Carolina beat them fairly easily for the title.
The difference here is how Arizona won. The Wildcats weren’t fighting UConn on every possession in the fourth quarter like Mississippi State was. They also didn’t win the game on a buzzer-beating shot like the one the Bulldogs’ Morgan William hit. Arizona was clearly the better team on Friday night for the entire 40 minutes.
Adelson: Charlie is right. Arizona was the better team and showed it within the first five minutes against the Huskies. The Wildcats played with a confidence about them, with an aggressiveness and superiority that a team like UConn usually plays with at this point in the season. The Wildcats took it to them from the beginning, and when the Huskies didn’t respond, Arizona kept going even harder.
That is why this is a team that is so fun to watch, and so easy to root for. Who doesn’t love an underdog story? Yes, Barnes is cool and calm and rarely betrays what she is feeling or thinking on the sideline, but there are also glimpses of what makes her someone her players love so much, like when she used some choice language late in the game in the huddle to tell her players to forget all their haters. That just makes the Wildcats go that much harder.
So will they have gas in the tank? Absolutely. There is something to be said for gaining confidence and momentum during a tournament run like the one Arizona has had this year. Barnes said as much in her postgame news conference, when she said her team became more united in San Antonio.
She also mentioned slights along the way — beyond getting left out of the NCAA Final Four promotional video — that have only served to motivate her team. Something tells me she is going to bring up the results of their two games against Stanford this year to put a little bit more fire into her team before Sunday night.
Voepel: I do have to say it’s almost eerie how much this is like 2017 — an underdog team knocking off UConn in the semifinals and then having to face a team from its own conference in the national championship game. As Charlie said, Mississippi State looked pretty worn out when it faced South Carolina for the title four years ago. But then-Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer took a lot of blame for that. He said later that he felt that he didn’t get his team enough rest before the championship game.
Barnes understands her team, and as a former player for many years, she has a good feel for how to gauge if they’re well-rested enough. I think it will be a battle Sunday, and I guarantee the Cardinal think that, too.
play
1:16
Stanford and South Carolina battle in the final minute, as the Gamecocks miss out on a buzzer-beating winner by inches.
Stanford has set a record for most 3-pointers in a single women’s NCAA tournament, hitting 55 over five games. The Cardinal also outrebounded South Carolina for most of the game. How important are both those stats against Arizona in the title game?
Voepel: Stanford has been a great 3-point shooting team all season. The Cardinal entered Friday’s game averaging 9.1 made 3-pointers per game but only attempted eight vs. South Carolina, making five. Stanford was averaging 23.6 3-point attempts coming into the game.
Stanford managed to pull out the one-point win against the Gamecocks even without one of its main weapons. But it will likely be a major focus of Stanford in the national championship game.
Kiana Williams has been Stanford’s leading 3-point shooter this season, but she had a rough night shooting Friday, going 4-of-14 from the field and missing her only 3-point attempt. Hannah Jump is the Cardinal’s second best from long range, with 57 this season. But Jump played only two minutes Friday, which is reflective of Stanford’s depth and the fact that she probably wasn’t the best matchup defensively with South Carolina.
So it could be a different-looking game Sunday against Arizona, and 3-pointers could be a much bigger factor for the Cardinal.
Creme: The rebounding is important because it can set up so many other areas that make Stanford so good. The transition game, controlling the tempo, creating more opportunities, even many of those 3-point shots come as a result of controlling the glass.
Stanford finished the game with 24 second-chance points, matching the total that the Gamecocks had allowed in their first four NCAA tournament games combined. That’s the stat that had the biggest impact on the game. Stanford turned those trips down the floor into longer possessions. That put increased pressure on the South Carolina defense and removed pressure on Stanford to make every play perfect. Look at how aggressively Lexie Hull kept driving to the basket. She ended up 4-of-17 from the field, but she was confident that the Cardinal could get to any misses.
The single biggest play of the game was a second-chance opportunity with 32 seconds remaining. Haley Jones recovered one of those Hull misses on a drive to the basket and made a 12-footer that ended up being the game’s final points and difference-maker.
It’s not a strategy Stanford can depend on against Arizona; you can’t plan on getting so many second-chance opportunities. Even in two comfortable wins over the Wildcats during the regular season, the Cardinal totaled 19 second-chance points. Rebounding will still be a huge key. The more possessions Stanford has, the less time McDonald will have her hands on the ball for Arizona.
Adelson: I also expect the game against Arizona to look different than it did against South Carolina, and I believe the Cardinal’s 3-point shooting might end up being the biggest key. Arizona did a terrific job inside against UConn, holding the Huskies to a season-low 18 points in the paint and 31% shooting in that area, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. (The Huskies entered the game averaging more than 42 points in the paint this season.)
When things are not going well inside, outside shooting has to be the key to opening everything up. But UConn couldn’t really do that, either, hitting only five 3-pointers. So if Arizona has similar success against Stanford inside, popping some 3s will be a huge key. Especially because McDonald has made 15 3-pointers over her past three NCAA tournament games.
If she keeps hitting from 3 the way that she has (15-of-27), Stanford is going to have to find ways to keep up.
Stanford and Arizona are very familiar with each other. The Cardinal swept the Wildcats in two regular-season meetings, winning by a combined 41 points — 81-54 in Tucson, Arizona, on Jan. 1, and 62-48 at Stanford on Feb. 22. What will be different this time, and who is the early favorite?
Adelson: Stanford remains the favorite, but I expect this game to be closer than the first two matchups — not only because McDonald has found her groove and Arizona as a group has gained confidence. Barnes said something in her postgame news conference after the UConn win that really stuck with me: “Being like a top-10 team or being a top-12 team, it’s a little bit harder than it is to be an unranked team chasing and trying to get wins,” Barnes said. She felt all the pressure was on UConn, and her team could play freer and looser.
In the national championship game, all the pressure will once again be on the opponent. Stanford is the No. 1 overall seed and will be a heavy favorite to win its first national title in 29 years. This is not the same Arizona team that it played and beat this year, and Stanford cannot afford to overlook the Wildcats for that reason. I anticipate this will be a much better defensive effort from Arizona, based on what we have seen throughout the tournament.
And now, Arizona knows what it takes to win big games like this.
Creme: Stanford still has to be considered the favorite. Those were convincing wins, and the Cardinal’s defense was the story in both.
But anyone who has been watching this tournament can tell this is a different Arizona team than the one that was playing in February. And the reason is pretty simple: McDonald’s shooting. She was a 30% 3-point shooter before the NCAA tournament. In the Big Dance, McDonald is making 49% from deep and averaging 25.4 points. In Arizona’s past three games, against No. 2 seed Texas A&M, No. 4 seed Indiana and No. 1 seed UConn, she is averaging 30 points per game. She averaged 19.3 during the regular season. The opponents have gotten better, but McDonald has as well.
If Arizona is to win on Sunday, her fortunes against the Cardinal will have to take an even greater jump forward. Stanford had a formula to slow her down. In the two regular-season meetings, McDonald combined to shoot 11-for-46 from the field and 1-of-12 from 3-point range, scoring a total of 32 points. Her shooting range seems to have jumped back about 5 feet in the past three weeks, but Cardinal guards Anna Wilson and Kiana Williams should be able to push McDonald back a bit further because the fear of getting beat off the dribble shouldn’t be as great with the length Stanford has on the back end of its defense. Cameron Brink, a 6-foot-4 freshman forward, displayed how well she can protect the basket with six blocks against South Carolina. At 6-foot-5, sophomore Ashten Prechtel can be a problem for Arizona, too.
Sunday’s final score should be closer as well, but defense will continue to be the storyline. That’s a constant for both teams and perhaps where Stanford doesn’t get enough credit. The question will be whether McDonald has one more brilliant game left in her.
Voepel: As great as McDonald has been, there’s a blue-collar success story inside for the Wildcats, too. Forwards Sam Thomas, Cate Reese and Trinity Baptiste combined for 30 points and 12 rebounds against UConn, and they held Huskies’ starting forwards Aaliyah Edwards (3-of-6 from the field) and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (0-of-7) to a combined nine points. Stanford has a lot of big bodies like Brink, Prechtel and Fran Belibi inside, but the Arizona posts are not going to be intimidated by anything.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 47 points while missing just three shots as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped the Portland Trail Blazers’ four-game winning streak with a 127-109 victory Friday night.
Jrue Holiday added 22 points and 10 assists for the Bucks, who led by 24 points during the third quarter.
The game featured two of the league’s best scorers: Damian Lillard was averaging 29.8 points, second in the NBA, while Antetokounmpo entered fifth with 28.3.
But Antetokounmpo had the hot hand Friday, making all 18 of his shots inside the 3-point arc. He ties Wilt Chamberlain for the most 2-point field goals made without a miss, according to ESPN’s Stats and Information.
An early 11-0 run helped the Bucks jump to a 19-7 lead. Milwaukee led by 14 points during the opening half, but the Blazers closed the gap to 60-53 before heading into the break.
Lillard’s 3-pointer got Portland within 60-58 early in the fourth quarter, but the Bucks wouldn’t let the Blazers get any closer. Holiday’s basket extended Milwaukee’s lead to 86-70, and the Bucks capped the quarter with an 11-1 run.
The Bucks dominated in the paint all night, and no one more so than the two-time MVP. Antetokounmpo outscored the Trail Blazers 47-46 from two-point range and the free-throw line, the first player ever to accomplish that feat, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The Blazers bench struggled, going 0 for 16 from the field through the first three quarters. Anfernee Simons hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth to end the drought.
Milwaukee was coming off a 112-97 victory at the Lakers on Wednesday, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
HOUSTON — For the past 16 days, the NFL had the luxury of time and patience as civil suits piled up against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.
While lawyers slung accusations back and forth through litigation and media statements, the league has been able to go about its due diligence without a ticking clock of criminal investigation hanging over its own disciplinary process. The bottom line? If Watson wasn’t part of a police probe, the demand on the NFL to do something about his roster status in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations was mitigated.
That changed significantly on Friday, when the Houston Police Department announced a complaint had been officially filed with authorities regarding Watson.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, followed that statement with one of his own — appearing to indicate the complaint was tied to the civil litigation aimed at the quarterback.
“We welcome this long overdue development,” Hardin said in the statement. “Now we will learn the identity of at least one accuser. We will fully cooperate with the Houston Police Department.”
Those two statements now place NFL commissioner Roger Goodell at a crossroads. He now must process a growing collection of allegations and investigations into Watson, which draws a spotlight to how Goodell picks and chooses the players and incidents he believes warrant invoking Commissioner’s Exempt List status. The exempt list is essentially a form of paid leave for players, previously coming into play when authorities or the league (or both) began sorting through allegations of criminal conduct.
With the Houston Police Department fielding a criminal complaint and launching its own investigation — albeit one that has yet to define any details behind the complaint — Watson appears to fit that description. That’s a significant change in status. Prior to that happening, Watson was merely the target of mounting civil litigation that carried no criminal complaints and warranted a low bar for making an accusation. Essentially, anyone can file a civil lawsuit at any time and it proves nothing. But a civil lawsuit coupled with a criminal complaint that triggers a police investigation draws the NFL deeper into its own definitions of what warrants an exempt list situation.
A complaint against Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has officially been filed with Houston police. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
So here are the four realities that are now germane to Goodell’s vantage on whether Watson should be placed on the exempt list:
* The quarterback has 21 civil suits alleging some element of sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to assault.
* A 22nd woman has alleged what she believed to be inappropriate behavior by Watson during a massage session, in an account by Sports Illustrated.
* An undisclosed criminal complaint against Watson has been filed with the Houston Police Department.
* Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, has indicated that criminal complaint has ties to at least one piece of civil litigation currently pending against the player.
* The NFL is slated to begin team activities later this month, at which point Watson would be eligible to begin offseason work with the Texans (even if that appears unlikely).
According to the league’s personal conduct policy:
A player may be placed on paid administrative leave pursuant to the Commissioner Exempt List under either of the following circumstances:
First, when a player is formally charged with a crime of violence, meaning that he is accused of having used physical force or a weapon to injure or threaten another person, of having engaged in a sexual assault by force or a sexual assault of a person who was incapable of giving consent, of having engaged in other conduct that poses a genuine danger to the safety or well-being of another person, or of having engaged in animal abuse. The formal charges may be in the form of an indictment by a grand jury, the filing of charges by a prosecutor, or an arraignment in a criminal court.
Second, when an investigation leads the Commissioner to believe that a player may have violated this Policy by committing any of the conduct identified above, he may act where the circumstances and evidence warrant doing so. This decision will not reflect a finding of guilt or innocence and will not be guided by the same legal standards and considerations that would apply in a criminal trial.
As of now, Watson has not been charged with a crime and does not apply to the first standard. But the second standard is wide open and leaves Goodell with the considerable latitude of whether Watson “may have violated” the personal conduct policy. Previously Goodell had only his own league investigation (which is underway) to make that kind of determination. Now he has the Houston Police Department engaging in its own investigation.
What’s key in this moment is Goodell doesn’t have to know Watson is guilty of having violated the personal conduct policy. He only has to believe the quarterback “may have violated” it. And this is where the pressure begins to mount. Looking at the 21 pieces of civil litigation that have been filed accusing Watson of sexual misconduct, alongside both the Sports Illustrated account that mirrors some parts of the pending suits and the criminal complaint filed with the Houston Police Department, a question for Goodell now begins to form.
If this isn’t the threshold for a situation where Watson “may have violated” the personal conduct policy, then what is the threshold?
Eventually, Goodell is going to be pressed for that description. And Friday’s development will have played a significant role in seeking that answer.
Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker pounded his bat into the ground after hitting a one-out popup in the seventh inning of Friday night’s 9-5 win against the A’s in Oakland, frustrated he had wasted an RBI opportunity with teammate Jose Altuve standing on third base.
As A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus, shifted to the right side, drifted back and routinely caught the popup about 10 feet beyond the infield dirt in shallow right field, Altuve caught him off guard. Andrus paused for a beat before realizing Altuve was breaking for home, sliding in safely ahead of Andrus’ desperation throw.
That’s right, Altuve scored on a sacrifice fly … to the shortstop.
The hustling play, which left Tucker with an unexpected RBI and gave the Astros a 6-2 lead, had Altuve and his teammates smiling from ear to ear. Altuve reached in his first four plate appearances on Friday as the leadoff hitter — a role George Springer held down the previous five seasons.
Altuve’s sprint speed from third to home was 30.4 feet per second, according to Statcast, which means he was flying. A sprint speed of 30 feet per second is considered elite (27 is the MLB average).
Only two games into the season, the Astros are playing with the kind of emotion and hustle — as Altuve’s mad dash home indicated — that was largely absent last year, when they slogged their way to a 29-31 record in the regular season. Altuve had the worst year of his career at the plate, but he is off to an energetic and fast start in 2021.
Altuve’s run in the seventh — one of four he scored Friday — was the difference in the game before the Astros batted around in the ninth and scored three runs to blow it open.
